In 2008, the Tampa Bay Rays selected shortstop Tim Beckham with the first overall pick in Major League Baseball’s Amateur Draft. And just like any other player selected in that coveted position, Beckham seemed to be on the fast track to the big leagues — or at least a fairly quick path — but nearly five years later he's still trying to prove himself at Triple-A Durham as questions surrounding his offense and defense linger.

One thing holds true though: His athleticism is off the charts. Odds are that's the one main attribute that drew attention to him in the first place, and as we saw on Friday night, the now 23-year-old still has it in abundance.

As you'll see in the video, Scranton-Wilkes Barre RailRiders catcher Jeff Farnham is the guy charged with the task of keeping Beckham off home plate as he raced around to score from second base on Cole Figueroa's clean basehit to center field. The throw coming in from Melky Mesa was a pretty strong one, too, though it didn't really allow Farnham to block the plate as solidly as he would have preferred. Still, he had plenty of time to swing around and apply the tag on the sliding Beckham.

(UniWatch)Courtesy of UniWatch comes our first look at this season's Stars & Stripes 59FIFTY caps from New Era that will be worn all around Major League Baseball on the Fourth of July.

Honestly, sometimes these caps can be a little difficult to differentiate from year to year, and even holiday to holiday. The subtle differences in the logo patterns can sometimes go unnoticed, but what stands out this time around are the solid white and gray colors on top of either black or red bills.

When I say standout, I don't necessarily mean that in a good way. In my view, those combinations leave a lot to be desired, but I suppose when you've exhausted pretty much every combination there is over a ten year period, sometimes it will come down to a design that just doesn't mesh.

As Kevin Kaduk has suggested in the past, and I agree with him on this completely, it's well past time to scale things back and simplify these caps. The addition of an american flag patch or a commemorative patch of some sort that is either attached to the cap or even the sleeve of the uniform would suffice just fine. Then again, it's not as if these items have been created for cosmetic purposes only. MLB has had a lot of success selling the different versions of these caps, and with proceeds going to the Welcome Back Veteran's Fund, it's difficult to truly dislike what you're looking at for those two or three days during a long season.

Move over squirrels, cats, seagulls, and yes, even skunks, we have a brand new champion of winged and four-legged baseball disturbers.

Huskies!

Seriously. You really need to take a look at the video above to see what I mean. It comes to us from Saturday night's (into Sunday morning’s) NCAA Tournament game between Cal-State Fullerton and Arizona State that was played in Fullerton. With the home team batting in the bottom of the second inning, a sudden, confusing stoppage of play is quickly figured out as the camera pans towards second base. That's where our new friend was taking the first leg of his journey around Goodwin Field.

His next move is to head directly for the right field corner, which is where Arizona State's bullpen was located, possibly because he spotted his way out. He paid little attention to anyone else on his way out there, but unfortunately finds the gate to be closed and locked. He then reverses field all the way across the outfield, again paying little attention to humans, before making a successful exit through a left field gate.

What happens when a Major League Baseball team hosts Farm and Ranch Day at their home ballpark?

Naturally, you take a hand full of players from the respective teams playing that day. Then you line up a pair of farm related pregame contests. And then you sit back watch the entertainment unfold.

At least that's how the Texas Rangers set things up prior to their game against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday afternoon, and to the Royals credit they were more than willing to join in on the fun.

In the opening contest, the team of Rangers pitchers Derek Holland and Justin Grimm went to battle with sure-handed Royals infielders Chris Getz and Elliott Johnson in the always dramatic egg toss.

If you're a fan of franchises like the Tampa Bay Rays and Colorado Rockies, when someone asks you how long you've been following that particular team, chances are you could honestly respond with the lifelong fan cliché, before making sure to add it‘s their entire lifespan, not yours.

A gentleman by the name of Bernando LaPallo could respond with that exact same answer when asked about his favorite team as well, but the remarkable difference in his case is that LaPallo is a fan of the New York Yankees.

That’s right, at 111 years young, LaPallo has been alive longer than the New York Yankees have been the New York Yankees. Technically, yes, the franchise did exist on August 17, 1901 — the day LaPollo was born — as the original Baltimore Orioles. When they eventually moved to New York in 1903, they were then known as the Highlanders. It wasn't until LaPallo turned 12 that the Yankees name would come along. Also, for a little more perspective, LaPallo is the same age as the American League itself.

That's pretty mind-blowing when you think about it, and definitely cool, but not nearly as cool as watching LaPallo walk onto the Yankee Stadium grass as he did prior to Saturday evening’s game against the rival Boston Red Sox. LaPallo was given full access to the field and was spotted mingling with players such as Derek Jeter.

The Milwaukee Brewers escaped Citizens Bank Park on Saturday with a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, but that outcome may not have been possible without the aid of yet another awful, game-changing call during the ninth inning.

It happened with pitcher Kyle Kendrick on second base pinch-running for the ailing Jimmy Rollins. Rollins had singled with no outs immediately following Freddy Galvas' home run that cut the lead to one. Kendrick was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, meaning there was one out at the time of controversial play.

As Kendrick took his lead before Francisco Rodriguez's 1-1 pitch to Cesar Hernandez, the reliever known as "K-Rod" spun around and threw somewhat sloppily to the bag, but in plenty of time to get the napping Kendrick. The problem is (or should have been) the throw forced the covering Jean Segura to dive to flag it down. To his credit, Segura did indeed flag it down, but he was unable to catch it cleanly before applying what would have been a spectacular sprawling tag.

However, in a very fortunate bounce (or roll), the baseball, which had been hidden from the view of second base umpire Mike Estabrook, rolled right into Segura's bare hand just as he turned over. Under the impression that Segura possessed the ball the entire time, Estabrook very quickly — and still very incorrectly — ruled Kendrick out.

(USA Today)In his latest column for SI.com, Tom Verducci notes that Major League Baseball's attendance is down 2.9 this season, which is fairly significant number. However, as he also reveals, those numbers are a bit skewed by a certain organization in the National League East. I'll give you one guess.

Baseball attendance is down 2.9 percent, but the Miami Marlins alone account for 40 percent of the decline in tickets sold, and the weather in many places has been brutal.

If you guessed anyone but the Marlins, I would have to question why you clicked on a story without reading the headline first. Honestly, you shouldn't even have to read the headline to figure this one out.

According to Deadspin, the Marlins sold an average of 27,000 tickets per game in 2012, but that number is all the way down to 17,893 this season. That's over 9,000 less sold tickets on a nightly basis. But again, it shouldn't come as any real surprise after owner Jeffrey Loria oversaw a firesale that sent Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle and others to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Marlins fans have been burned before and they've been burned again, and it's difficult to imagine they'll ever come back in anything resembling full force anytime soon. At least not under Loria's ownership. In fact, if there's any surprise it might be that they're at least topping 15,000 tickets sold per game, but I guess a new stadium can still make up some of the difference.

The Juice returns for season No. 6! It's almost eligible for free-agency! Stop by daily for news from the action, along with great photos, stats, video highlights and more.

Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta and Alex Avila delivered back-to-back-to-back home runs to start the Detroit Tiger fourth inning, and the true wildness hadn't even started yet. That actually came when Orioles starter Jason Hammel plunked the following hitter, Matt Tuiasosopo, in the shoulder with a really awful slider. Hammel was immediately ejected, which is to be expected regardless of intent. You simply can't hit someone after allowing three straight blasts, but it was clear on the field and after the game that Hammel disagreed.

''I'm not going to make a big deal of it. I hit him with a slider,'' Hammel said. ''Zero intent there to hit him. Obviously I give up three home runs, but I'm not the guy that answers getting hit around with hitting somebody. That's bush league if